The present invention generally relates to a flying apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to various embodiments of a novel propeller-enclosed and air tube-based airlifting apparatus.
As mobile multimedia communications methods and mechatronic control systems have become more sophisticated and cheaper in recent years, autonomous or remote-controlled flying apparatuses, also known as “drones,” have experienced a significant market expansion from the specialty aeronautics and military application segment to the general consumer electronics segment. Drones that were out of reach for average consumer electronics purchase budgets many years ago are becoming dramatically inexpensive.
Empowered in part by today's increasingly-ubiquitous access to broadband wireless communication technology and real-time multimedia (e.g. video, audio, etc.) transmission capabilities, consumers are finding a myriad of potential uses for inexpensive drones available in the consumer electronics market. For example, today's consumers utilize drones for unmanned video recording, surveillance, advertising, and real-time multimedia broadcast.
As some of the drone applications involve indoor use or navigation through tight spaces, conventional drone designs with exposed propellers are substantial safety risks to humans, animals, and properties. High-velocity rotating propellers can harm, injure, or damage people, animals, and properties, if propeller blades accidentally come into contact with external objects. Despite these safety risks inherent in indoor or tight-spaces drone usage, conventional drone designs typically expose one or more propellers in open air, thus posing substantial danger to public safety as consumer applications of drone usage continue to grow exponentially in the future.
Therefore, it may be advantageous to provide a novel structure for a flying apparatus that reduces potential bodily harm and property damage risks during an operation of the flying apparatus in a densely-populated environment or in another environment involving tight spaces. Furthermore, it may also be advantageous to provide a novel flying apparatus that encapsulates one or more propellers inside a drone casing to enhance operational safety. Moreover, it may also be advantageous to provide a safety-enhancing and unique multi air-tube structure incorporated into the drone casing as air outtakes to produce stable lift force with the encapsulated propellers. In addition, it may also be advantageous to provide a novel flight control steering unit that controls direction and altitude of the novel flying apparatus.